


Candles

by ddagent



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-31
Updated: 2013-12-31
Packaged: 2018-01-06 21:46:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1111865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ddagent/pseuds/ddagent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Despite their lack of reasons to celebrate, Belle wasn’t about to let this day go unnoticed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Candles

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Once Upon a Time or any of its characters, or its settings - all belongs to the lovely folks at ABC.
> 
> A thought I had regarding the [horribly inaccurate] Rumbelle flashback scene. This is set after 3.11. Hope you enjoy! :D

Belle reckoned that Bae thought she had forgotten. He’d made no mention of it over breakfast, had not even voiced the subject as he walked her to her publishers office. But she had remembered and although they didn’t have much to celebrate, Belle wasn’t about to let the date go unnoticed. She had picked up the small box after work and was determined to make tonight a special moment.

 

As she pressed the button for the elevator that would take her up to her and Bae’s apartment, Belle realised how few special moments they had now. The couple of months they had spent back in the Enchanted Forest had been fraught with grief and battles neither of them cared for. When they had found a chance to return to this world to seek out Henry and Emma they had taken it without question. It had been hard adjusting to a world that she had only briefly experienced; and every day without Rumpelstiltskin was a challenge. But things like today kept her going.

 

Reaching the right floor, Belle went to the last door at the end of the hall. Upon returning to this world they had stayed in Bae’s old place, Belle spending most of her time on the fire escape. Shortly after Bae had gone back to his job in advertising they had got this place. It was an old building; with half eaten beams and an elevator that didn’t work most of the time. But it was large and spacious and some mornings it reminded Belle of the castle. It helped when she was writing her book.

 

Inside the apartment, Bae was reading over Belle’s new draft. It was a long shot, but then their story had found Henry once. It could so again. Even if it didn’t, it was bringing them both closer together.

 

Bae grinned as he saw her. “Hey Belle. I’m just reading over your story about the mines. I love it. Did Dad really give you a library?”

 

“Twice,” Belle replied, joining him in the living room. She placed the small, square box on the table in front of Bae, enjoying the way his eyes narrowed in on it. “Here. This is for you.”

 

Bae pulled the box towards him. “If it’s a shrunken human head I’m moving out.”

 

Belle laughed, although she hoped there wasn’t any truth to his words. She loved living with Bae and in all honesty she didn’t know if she could live without him. He was her anchor to the real world, her only tangible connection to Rumpelstiltskin other than the chipped cup in the cupboard. But a tug of her hand reassured her that Bae wasn’t going anywhere. Of course he wouldn’t. For the moment, they were all the other had. “Go on. Open it.”

 

With a sceptical look, Bae finally opened the box. “It’s a cupcake.”

 

“A _birthday_ cupcake,” Belle insisted; reaching into her bag for the candle and the box of matches she had bought specially. She struck a match and lit the candle, leaving it flicking in front of Bae. “Happy birthday. Now go on, make a wish.”

 

Smirking, Bae leant forward and crossed his arms over the table. He closed his eyes and took a few seconds before blowing out the candle. Just as the flame flickered and died there was a knock on their front door. Both of them turned to the sound, confused as to its origin. They didn’t have any real friends and no one from their world knew where they were. No one _ever_ knocked on their door.

 

“Did you book a birthday stripper?”

 

Belle smacked her stepson on the shoulder and stood shakily to her feet. Grabbing one of the sabres from the umbrella stand, Belle moved to stand by the front door. Her hand hesitated by the door knob, unsure if she indeed wanted to open it. It was most likely the building manager, or a neighbour. “Bae, what did you wish for?”

 

“Nothing that could come true.”

 

Swallowing, Belle reached out and opened the door. It swung open just before the sabre clattered to the floor. She’d always suspected magic in this world, even a tiny fragment. But this…this was something else entirely. Taking a tentative step forward, Belle’s hands reached out. Her fingers ran over familiar features, traced over well remembered lines. They gripped shoulders she thought she would never touch again, tugged hair she believed she would never again get the pleasure to hold.

 

“Are you real?” Belle whispered, her hands continuing to touch every part of the phantom in front of her. He felt so solid. “You’re _alive._ ”

 

Without waiting for a response, Belle threw herself around him, her arms tightening around his neck. She clung to him, her fingers digging into his shoulders and his hair, afraid of ever letting go. He hesitated in her embrace for a moment until his arms went around her waist, holding her just as tight. Belle felt herself lift off the floor, being twirled in a circle. When she was finally put down she pulled away and held his face, looking into the brown eyes that no amount of time could ever have made her forget.

 

“It is you, isn’t it?”

 

A nod. “It is. Not sure how, but it is.” Rumpelstiltskin moved forward, his lips brushing against the corner of his mouth. “I love you.”

 

“And I love you.” She couldn’t stop touching him, not even when she saw Bae appear in the doorway. He stared at them, his mouth gaping wide like a fish. “What the hell did you wish for, Bae?”

 

Her stepson moved forward and buried himself into the other side of his father. “I didn’t think it would…I mean, I just thought…your happy ending. I wished for your happy ending. If anyone deserves one, it’s you.” He gripped his father’s shoulder tight, pinching the skin. “Papa, it’s really you.”

 

Both of them clutched onto the figure of Rumpelstiltskin, still dressed in the suit he had worn the day he’d killed Pan. Belle’s hands tightened in his waistcoat, needing to anchor herself to something. It still didn’t feel real yet. She wondered if he’d felt that way with her, if those days after the curse had broken had all been his way of making sure that when he turned around she was still there. Belle never wanted to let him out of her sight again. She never wanted to be apart from him for a single moment.

 

“I forgot to bring a present,” Rumpelstiltskin said as he peered into their apartment. “It’s your birthday, Bae, and I don’t have a present for you.”

 

Belle and Bae exchanged looks on either side of him, both of them laughing. “You know what; you came back from the dead. I’ll let it slide this year.”

 

With the moment broken, the three of them moved into the apartment. Bae went to the kitchen to put the kettle on, bringing out the chipped cup from the cupboard specially. Belle just pressed her forehead against Rumpelstiltskin’s; still not quite believing he was really there. “Where do we go from here?”

 

“Upstairs, preferably. Got a lot of lost time to make up for. But after Bae’s asleep. Wouldn’t want to ruin his birthday after all.”

 

They heard Bae groan from the kitchen and Belle silenced her love with a kiss, relishing the feel of his mouth against hers. Bringing someone back from the other side used a great deal of magic and there would no doubt be one hell of a price. Considering all they had been through, Belle liked to believe they had already paid. With Rumpelstiltskin returned to her, they could finally start thinking about the future. She had promised forever and it was about time she delivered.

 


End file.
